The biggest obstacle to doing that is the United States, and President Moon is dispatching a new Ambassador to DC. President Trump has made clear that he believes diplomacy has “failed,” and that he would only accept any discussions with North Korea under very limited circumstances, which other officials suggested meant they had to stop materially everything the US finds objectionable.

President Moon is a major supporter of the Sunshine Policy which attempted to improve relations between north and south. That policy had been abandoned by recent governments in South Korea, which have tended to favor the more hawkish stance taken by the US.

While South Korea clearly is free to try to reopen communications without America’s permission, they’re going to have to manage the impact such a move would have on US relations. Managing this, while seeking support from nations learning toward diplomacy, notably China and Russia, will likely be an important part of making that politically viable for Moon.

One thought on “South Korea Wants to Reopen Communications With North”

What’s wrong with reopening communications with North Korea? As far as I know, nothing’s wrong with it. The USG has to be reasonable and allow the two Korean states to negotiate with each other, instead of acting hysterically. The recent election in South Korea has shown that the people there want peace and security and not worry about whether their northern neighbor will launch an attack. This is why a vast majority of the SK population’s been protesting against the deployment of the inefficient THAAD missile defense system. This system’s deployment isn’t against NK, but against China.
However, China’s advanced missiles can easily bypass THAAD, due to their speed and ability to swerve away from a THAAD missile.
The SK population chose a liberal, Moon Jae-in, as their president in recent elections .. And Moon promised to reopen negotiations with North Korean’s leader, Kim Jong-un sometime soon. First, he plans to talk with Chinese President Xi Jingping to ensure that China reins NK in and stops future missile testing.
All Kim Jong-un wants from both SK and the US is a peace treaty, which was never signed at the end of the fighting in 1953. All that was signed was an armistice, which only ended the fighting, not the war itself .. Thus, we’re still in a state of war with NK ( a cold war). Until this peace treaty’s signed, there’ll still be tensions in the peninsula.